░7░ The Forest

"Iris?!" Damon said surprised at the sudden figure in front of him. She was wearing the brown coat that he gave earlier

"What are you doing here?! You should've gone to Selby's shop by now!" Damon exclaimed making a point in their current situation. Yet, he only see how Iris was fuming with an angry expressions towards him

'Uh oh, this means trouble. Have to get her out of here before she discovered something about me' Damon thought walking near the angry young woman in front of him - sighing

"You don't know how worried I was for you that I had no choice to follow you here. What's gotten with you that time? Did you know who the guy was?" curiosity was what Iris had portrayed in her expressions and in her voice

"I thought he's someone familiar, he’s figure was quite too familiar to me. Now let's probably go before some beasts appear out of nowhere," Damon said with concern look to her. He started pulling her towards him. that gesture made Iris blushed again with their sudden contact

'Some beasts? Wait is he kidding right now or what? But why does he always pull me towards him? It's making me dizzy. His smell is somewhat expensive but then again- maybe he bought expensive perfume by loaning money – then badly needed part-time job to pay the man back' Iris thought deeply. She tried to make a point where she keeps denying the truth. The truth that was already present in front of her eyes that he’s born a noble – pretending to be commoner.

"Hmm, you better explain everything to me later in, or else I won't help you by tomorrow," Iris said threatening Damon. Instead of making himserious, it only made her chuckle at the sudden rebut of Iris

'Her hand was soft even though she works at the bakeshop' Damon thought holding her hand as he guided her the way out of the forest. But as soon as they were about to head out of the forest, they heard some noises. They heard noises, like a great roar and some sounds of a wood breaking.

'This is not an ordinary forest, it looks cool and all with the lake and large tree in front of us but the sounds get creepier each time we take a step out of it' Iris thought who was now hiding behind Damon's back. Damon,on the other hand, only faced where the sounds were coming from. Seriously observing the surroundings

'He's right about the beasts part though. I thought it hadn't had any, to begin with!' Iris added to her thoughts anxiously

Damon just guided her to stay behind him as he looked and observed the surroundings. Until all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a tiger appeared in front of them. Damon was about to get eaten by it if it weren't for the young guy who wore black all over his body saves him from being attacked by attacking the tiger with his sword

Damon was also about to hit the tiger when it landed immediately on the other side of him. Head was detached from the body, as blood spluttered all over the green grasses.

After the scenario, Damon looked at the figure in front of him that saved them only to find that it was Lucius. He was about to talk to him to confirm his suspicions but he was stopped when the young guy pointed his sword at Damon’s neck with threatening eyes

"Forget what you saw today," was the only words he heard after the young guy who was – Lucius - immediately disappeared from his sight. There, he was left dumbfounded from his position

'How did he end up here? Why did he changed so much? But then again, who wouldn't if he's always prohibited to talk to us since that day. Years passed by and I became a stranger to him again. I just hope he still carries the promise he made with me back then' Damon thought who was about to cry if he hadn’t braced himself to be braved

"Lucius" he unexpectedly blurted out while Iris continued screaming at the top of her lungs because of the approaching tiger earlier. She didn’t even see the scene the two guys had earlier

"Shhhhh, calm down. I already killed the beast," Damon said pretending to be the one that killed the beast not wanting to expose his half-brother – who had gone to the forest alone

'He must've been tasked by the Duke or he's planning something out. I know Lucius very well and I smell something out of his actions today' Damon thought seriously looking at Iris who was now calmed. Yet, she was still crying into his arms hugging her for the moment

"That's the person who chased a thief earlier? Just by seeing a tiger only did she cry and scream already?" Damon said teasing Iris whom he's gently patting her head while crying

"Excuse me! That's a different thing a beast is so much dangerous than a thief!" Iris exclaimed pushing herself away to see Damon's smirking face. That action of her only made her feel embarrassed enough. She became embarrassed enough that her face suddenly turned a red like a tomato

"Hmmm, that's a different thing, huh? Then what if the thief you chased earlier was also a killer? Would you be responsible for your actions then if I wasn't able to save you there?" Damon again said, who was now seriously looking at Iris after breaking their hug. He gently wiped his tears with his handkerchief again and when she's no longer crying he immediately put it back in his pocket

"T-that’s," Iris couldn't rebut what he just said because it is true, what if he's not there to save her? And what if he's not only a thief but a killer? That thought created shivers down her spine

"There, you now looked like the Iris I knew before crying," he said easing her thoughts. She’s now deeply repenting from what she knew what would happened. She doesn’t even want to imagine such things

"Next time, if you know you're in trouble or someone was in trouble. Don't go alone, let me come with you and we'll beat some asses together, okay?" Damon said reassuring Iris who was now smiling brightly at him

"You're such a nice gorgeous person you are, El! Thank you for the advice," Iris said gently hitting his chest with her smile plastered on her face

"I've got no problem with it, besides what are friends for Iris!" chuckles came after saying those words from Damon’s mouth

"Now we should get the hell out of here before something unexpected happen again," Damon said immediately holding her hand as they walked out of the forest. Little did Iris know what she is feeling again with the sudden electricity that ran through her hand the moment he held hers

She just shrugged the thought of it and proceeded to focus where they were heading

'This was the first place we went to fight some beasts asses. This was also the place that we’ll go for, when we're angry at someone or when we're pained especially with - Derius our father, who's the duke of Maxwell household' that thought kept Damon silent for a while. Reminiscing the past as he focused his view towards the surroundings while still holding Iris' soft hand

By doing that gesture, he felt sudden electricity run over his body. Yet, he only shrugged the thought as a sudden reflexive act, nothing more or less. As they were about to get out of the place, Iris and Damon heard some birds singing. They were already in the place where they got out from where the tiger had died.

Iris being curious as she was, immediately went into the bright place of the forest. Setting the bushes aside to see a paradise that every maiden had dreamt to go

'As I thought, our secret place had already been found out' Damon thought sighing inwardly. He truly remembered how the place looks like where he and Lucius used to hang out a lot. The place that after he saw currently, never changes

"Careful," Damon said still gently holding her hands. There, she crossed the path and now entered the beautiful part of the forest. They saw how the sun strikes the bluish color of the water. They saw how large and magnificent the tree was that was rich in green color. Vines were hanging around it

'It feels relaxing' Iris thought unconsciously inhaling the cool breeze inside. Damon, on the other hand, looked carefully at Iris – who was - observing the surroundings

He doesn't know but he felt like his heart was beating out of his chest. For a moment, after looking at the lady in front of him he unconsciously touched his chest by his other hand. Yet, he immediately removed them being suddenly aware in his actions

But then again, he keep denying what he’s feeling and only thinking that it was probably his curiosity about her. Until Damon shrugged the thought and looked at his secret place which he and Lucius only knew until now

'It's still the same even though years have passed. It still looked like a paradise to me' Damon thought sadly smiling, looking around. Iris notices him enough to shrug any questions building up her mind as she enjoyed looking at the scenery.

As Iris was about to walk towards the large tree she stumbled a bit. She had stepped on the large roots of the tree making her almost fall if it was not for Damon catching her on time. He held her waist gently by the act, making their faces inches apart. Feeling each other's warm breath they looked each other’s in wide eyes

This made the two people inside feel like their heart wasn't theirs anymore. They feel that the beating was becoming rapidly fast making both of them blush. They tried to stay in that position until they heard some noises around the side of the surrounding

That's the cue to fix their position as their backs face each other

'This is the very first time I felt like my heart was not mine anymore' Damon thought observing his heart. Though, he calmed afterward. He calmed himself by breathing the cool air inside of the place

Iris also felt the same. She felt like she couldn't breathe with the way his warm breath touched her face earlier. The more heat the she felt by the unusual act of Damon

'There for a moment, I thought I would faint from the way this gorgeous guy looked at me. He –El held my waist gently' Iris thought gently hitting her chest for the sudden embarrassment knowing that he saw her blush

'This is not good! We should try to get out of here! I should just act as nothing had ever happened, yes, that's it! That will be the right choice!' Iris finally decided to act like nothing ever happened. So she immediately faced Damon who was still on his back. She was about to walk towards where he was when she felt something strange on her foot

She felt like there was a sticky thing moving up her foot, until she knew what that was

"Ah! El! There's a snake! There's a snake climbing up my foot!" Iris exclaimed shrieking herself as she run unconsciously towards Damon. She ran with sudden terrifying thought she had

After hearing what Iris said Damon faced where she was only to catch her again but this time, he caught her from running.

H caught her on time but it's too late to maintain his balance. They both fell on the grass as Iris being on top of Damon while his eyes were still closed. Her brown coat was removed to the side making her whole beauty appeared on top of him. That made Damon be surprised at the same time

'She's like a goddess' Damon thought as she fell to his chest while the sun strikes her beauty making it more visible than ever

"Shhhh, It's just a snail. I saw it earlier besides I knew there weren't any snakes in here," Damon said reassuring her while gently patting her soft golden hair

"You sure? Cause if there was---" Iris didn't finish her sentence when she saw her hair fall to her shoulders. Her locks going visible in front of Damon who was now smirking at her

"Yes, yes I'm sure of it, gorgeous woman," Damon said smirking at Iris - who was about to pick the brown coat to cover herself - when Damon took her hands first, then shook his head gently

"Just for once, make yourself appear like this when it's only the two of us,"